somehedgehog - Tumblr blog

[somehedgehog]

Innovative and Inspiring Artwork featuring the ladies of the new movie, Hidden Figures. 

We love all of the amazing support surrounding this powerful true story about the lives and accomplishments of NASA’s female, African-American “human computers”. Whose incredible work helped to send the first Americans to space. Learn more. 

[somehedgehog]

Reblog if Black Lives Matter to you

Where are those woke white people at!?

[somehedgehog]

Whenever a southerner says it’s cold a random northerner pops up ❄❄

[somehedgehog]

IT’S NOT FAAIIIIR TO REMIND ME OF THE UGLY SWEATER YOU GAVE TO ME YOU YOU YOU OTTER KNOW

[somehedgehog]

How You Can Help Stop Fake News From Spreading On Facebook

[somehedgehog]

This is Boston-area busker Vivian Luo, also known as Violin Viv!  http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2016/02/22/red-line-violinist-covers-hotline-bling/

undefined

The other day, we saw this violinist performing “Bang Bang” near Park Street and I’m still totally 😻😻😻 over her!

[somehedgehog]

yippee ti yi yo, get a long little doggie

this is eve. she’s a long hair dachshund and seven years old.

[somehedgehog]

undefined

This is probably the best ukulele playing I’ve ever seen.

[somehedgehog]

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, which celebrates women in tech! A good time to remember a couple of the intellectual women that RP has covered:

Mary Sherman Morgan: Helped the US win the space race by inventing a new kind of rocket fuel

Annie Jean Easley: Boundary-smashing engineer, mathematician, and NASA rocket scientist

Margaret Hamilton: developed on-board software for the Apollo missions, coined the term “software engineer”

Maggie Gee: aviatrix, nuclear physicist, and overachiever

Katherine Johnson: One of NASA’s early human computers, and subject of the upcoming Hidden Figures movie (where she’s played by Taraji P. Henson!)

”Amazing” Grace Hopper: Invented the compiler. Is an unstoppable badass.

Parisa Tabriz: Google’s security expert

Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley: went by a man’s name to build out a massively successful software company; 297 of her first 300 employees were women

And it’s worth mentioning that the world’s first programmer, Ada Lovelace herself, is in the RP book. :)

[somehedgehog]

(Context: I am an extroverted theater nerd married to an introverted Buddhologist.)

A barely fictionalized microcosm of what our house is like right now: C: "Let's go out for a drink." A:"I can't, I'm finishing this post about Chapman's critique of Buddhist ethics." C:"Why do you assume you're the smartest in the room?" A: "What?" C:"Why do you assume you're the smartest in the room?" A:"I heard you the first time, I was just - " C:"Why do you assume you're smartest in the room? Soon that attitude will be your doom - " A:"Are you Hamiltoning me right now? Is that it?" C:"Why do you write like you're running out of time?" A:"The AAR's in November." C: "Write day and night like you're running out of time?" A: "Please. Stop." C:"Why do you write like you're running out of time? Are you running out of time? ARE YOU RUNNING OUT OF TIME?" A: "GOD HELP AND FORGIVE ME, I WANNA BUILD SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA OUTLIVE ME" C:...."Cool. I'll get us some Scotch."

[somehedgehog]

Hearing The Call to Adventure when you’re over 40.

There’s a seriously delightful conversation in one of the LARP fb groups about adventuring over 40. Many of us aren’t 20 anymore, and it seems silly to have our characters not be our own age (or close to it). But they’re still starting characters (as it’s a new campaign), which implies they chose this path recently.

That thread is mostly joking around, but I kind of love the idea of hearing The Call when you’re not a teenager, and starting your in-game adventuring life later as some kind of mid-life crisis, religious epiphany, empty nest reaction, etc. Which got me to some ficlets, and here’s the result.

—

“Well, your mother always wanted to be an adventurer - she was a hell of an archer when we were your age - but we got pregnant, and your grandmother needed some help, so we put that life off for a while. But now that you’re off at university, it seems like a good time to pick up the bow again, and go fight evil." 

—

“There was just something missing, y'know? I mean, I liked being a toymaker, but one day I realized - I really wanted to put on some plate mail, and go fight demons. So here I am, livin’ the dream." 

— 

“Sometimes, relationships don’t work out. She got the business, I get to start the life of adventure I’ve always wanted. Did you know I minored in alchemy? It’s good to get back into it again.”

—

“Your Aunt Maribel and I had always talked about doing this, when we were girls, but it just never seemed like the right time. But now that Uncle Haro has passed…Mari just wants to get out there and do it. I can’t let her go alone, can I? Someone has to watch her flank on the line, and remind her to keep her shield up.“

—

"What can I say? Sometimes you fall in love with a mage. When you do, you grab your hammer and you go where he goes. Someone has to keep cute Dukes from flirting with him. Back off, gentry! He’s all mine.” “Kevin, you’re being ridiculous. I’m not going to fall in love with some Duke.” “Whatever. I’m not taking any chances. It took me this long to find you, and I’m not letting you go without me.”

—

“I’m your Dad. If you’re going to go and fight evil, I’m going with you, ‘cause I support your choices.”

—

“Er…Mom’s heading off to check out some evil gate she heard about. Someone needs to go with her, ok? I squired for her last time, but I just can’t right now. It’s your turn. Make sure she does her exercises, ok? Her back is going to be horrid if she doesn’t.“ "Fine. I’ll handle the evil gate with Mom. But the next time she heads into the swamps to fight some lizard thing, you’re doing it. I freaking hate swamps.”

—

“His husband left him for an elf. He’s got some anger issues that he’s working through, ok? Better that he work through it on some bad guys.”

—

“What was that?” “Undead again.” “Oh, for the love of..look. They’re a freaking plague, and it’s getting worse. If we don’t want to keep dealing with this, we’re just going to have to go to the source.” “But….the carrots…!” “Hang the damned carrots. I’ll hire that nice boy down the street to take care of our field while we’re gone. Clean yourself up and grab your holy symbol. We’re not putting up with this for one more week.”

—

“Well, I always wanted to see the world. I got a small inheritance recently, and thought, why the heck not? No time like the present, right?”

—

“If that Sorcerer thinks he can just waltz in here and take over this town, he’s got another think coming!” “Doris, calm down. We’ll write to the King, and…” “I WILL NOT CALM DOWN. Sally, I swear, you drive me nuts sometimes.” “I’m just saying - there’s diplomatic solutions to this.” “The hell with diplomatic solutions! I WILL END HIM. ” “Fiiiiiine. Do it your way. End him with fire.” “Thank you!” *smooches* “Love you. Back when I’m back. He has NO IDEA who is coming for him.”

—

“What can I say? Adventuring pays the bills. I have a family to support, and turnip farming doesn’t make money like it used to.”

—

“Hey Phineas - for guys’ night, I have a thought. Rather than just going down to the pub like we usually do…I found a gate. No idea where it leads. Let’s go check it out. Could be fun, right?” “A gate?” “Yeah!” “This is a terrible idea. I’m in.”

—

“Um….well, this is awkward. You know that Goddess who spoke to me last spring?” “Oh yeah! Your whole conversion thing. Nice to see you found faith. It’s been good for you, I think.” “Well, she has something she wants me to take care of.” “What, like…a message delivered or something?” “Noooooooo?” “Seriously? You’re a florist. What does she want you to do?” “Well, now when I sing, things blow up. That’s good, right?” “This can’t end well.”

—

“We left for THREE WEEKS, and Barbarians razed our village. I swear, do I have to do everything myself? I JUST RE-DID THE ROOF, YOU JERKS.”

—

“He doesn’t think our family is good enough for him? I’ll show him who is good enough for him! My little girl is going to live in a castle, even if I have to conquer it myself!” “I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way.” “We’ll see what he has to say when I walk into Summertide with a demon’s head on a spike! Who’s good enough now, you two-bit merchant?!?”

—

“Your Aunt recently found out that Throgg the Destroyer is that brat she couldn’t stand at the Academy. She’s not taking it well, so we’re going to be off on a trip for a while…”

—

“So….funny story. You know that favor I owe the Countess? From like 20 years ago? She finally called it in. She remembered that I’m really good with Ancient Runes, and apparently there’s something she needs checked out.”

—

“I thought you said this adventuring thing was just a hobby, Brianna. Something we did on the weekends.” “Well, but…y'know…I really like it. I think I could be good at it. I’m getting better with the spear, you know?” “I don’t even know you anymore!” “Can’t you just be supportive?” “Well, but where does it end? First hobgoblins, now orcs…what’s next?” “I heard about this cursed tomb…” “Absolutely not. I draw the line at tombs. NO TOMBS.”

—

“I told you not to date that vampire. Didn’t I tell you? I told you!” “Let me live, Sergio.” “Let me unlive, you mean.” “Ok, that’s just rude.”

—

“Oh, sure - one good healing spell, and you think you can conquer the world.” “I can! I have the knees of a teenager again!”

—

“Grandpa, you’re embarrassing me.” “What, I can’t visit my grandson while he’s adventuring?” “Well, I love having you here, and everyone knows you’re a good healer, but…” “I’ll be fine. I like it here. I think I’ll stay.”

—

“C'mon, let’s do it. We’ve always wanted to.” “But…we don’t know what we’re doing.” “We do! We’ve each read The Book, what….15 times? I know you basically have it committed to memory.” “I don’t think 'To Catch a Rogue Lord’ was really meant as an instruction manual.” “C'mon…how hard can it be? You’ve seen the adventurers who come through here.” “Excellent point. I’ll get my herbs.”

—

“Honey? There’s a kid at the door. He says you’re the Chosen One.” “Arrrrgh. We talked about this! Come back later!” “He says the stars are aligned?” “Not doing it! Tell him to go away.” “Oh, and the seal broke. The seal broke, Stephen. It sounds important.” “But…” “I’ll pack you a lunch.”

“Call Sharon. She and her stupid birthmark are coming with me.” “I thought you said that translation of the prophecy was incorrect? Something about a miss-translation of verb.” “…well, at least if we fail, I won’t have to listen to Karl talking at Guild Meetings about how he was right.”

[somehedgehog]

Oh, for fuck’s sake. No, there is no substance to the pro life argument.  I am a childless woman diagnosed with breast cancer at 34. (Not a typo. 34. Less than 1 percent of breast cancers are diagnosed in women under 35 - comparable to the rate of breast cancers in cis men.)  My oncologists grilled me about every goddamn thing I’d ever done in my life, from onset of menses to diet to drinks per week, but abortion wasn’t brought up.  Whether or not I’d ever had a child, however, was.  

You see, giving birth at a young age (and we mean very young, like, before 20) is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer compared to having a child after 35, or never having a child at all.  So yeah, some cancer studies may have found a *correlation* between abortion and breast cancer, solely because people who gave birth in their teens (and therefore may not have had or had access to abortions) are less likely to get breast cancer.  I don’t think we should start promoting teen pregnancy as a cancer prevention measure, folks. 

This is a classic case of correlation, not causation. Say it again for the people in the back: CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION. To quote the American Cancer Society: “Linking these topics creates a great deal of emotion and debate. But scientific research studies have not found a cause-and-effect relationship between abortion and breast cancer.” You can read more here. 

And for the last time, to groups like this “American College of Pediatricians:” stop using my diagnosis to further your unscientific BS agenda.  You and the antivaxxers can go sit and spin.

The protesters have this sign out every Saturday. They put it in the center of the field where they protest, and it’s probably the biggest sign they have. I pretty much always ignore the sign because I know that it isn’t true, so I had never really noticed the source at the bottom even though I’d seen it so many times.

When I saw the sign again today I finally noticed the source at the bottom; The American College of Pediatricians. I assumed that it was a bullshit organization because pro lifers have shown me time and time again to expect this of them, but I still asked my volunteer friend next to me if she knew anything about this group. “Oh yeah,” she said, “it’s a hate group.”

I didn’t see that coming, although maybe I should have.

When I got home, I decided to look it up myself and see what I could find out about this group, since abortion causing breast cancer is one of the most popular lies I’ve heard from pro lifers. I found plenty of information about this group, so let’s start from the top.

1.) “The American College of Pediatricians is a small group of socially conservative healthcare professionals in the US. The group was founded in 2002 by a group of pediatricians, including Joseph Zanga, a past president of the  American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as a protest against the AAP’s support for adoption for gay couples.” source

2.) The organization is recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, primarily for it’s viciously anti LGBT views.  source

3.) The organization has been called out multiple times by medical professionals who’s studies were being misused and misinterpreted by the group. source

4.) The group is a favorite source of many wonderful right wing websites, such as Breitbart, which rely on it’s official sounding name alone. These publications like to ignore the fact that the group consists of anywhere from 60 to 200 members while the American Academy of Pediatrics, which ACPeds often criticizes for being too politically correct, has upwards of 64,000 members. source source

So let’s review; The American College of Pediatricians is a sham group of whiney medical (un)professionals who’s hatred of LGBT people is so strong, they decided to ignore science (and their Hippocratic oath) and form a literal hate group that is beloved by bigoted brainwashed zealots all over the country, despite it’s meager numbers and laughable “facts”.

What I want you guys to take from this is to never, ever take a pro life resource at face value. “The American College of Pediatricians” sounds pretty professional and legitimate, right? In the past, before I learned how shamelessly deceptive the pro life movement is, I would have taken the source at face value and let myself be tricked. That’s what they want. This is hardly the only phony resource they rely on (The Elliot Institute, anyone?) Do not trust their resources, and call out their ridiculous sourcing every chance you get. Do not ever let them get away with shit like this.

[somehedgehog]

This picture is honestly the funniest thing and I’m laughing way more than I should be

http://theduffel.co/1X5xRUw

[somehedgehog]

Coming off NPC shift and seeing the aftermath of what you've done

[somehedgehog]

“…last year this photograph of children looking at their smartphones by Rembrandt’s ‘The Night Watch’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam [went viral.] It was often accompanied by outraged, dispirited comments such as “a perfect metaphor for our age,” “the end of civilization” or “a sad picture of our society”.

…It turns out that the Rijksmuseum has an app that, among other things, contains guided tours and further information about the works on display. As part of their visit to the museum, the children, who minutes earlier had admired the art and listened attentively to explanations by expert adults, had been instructed to complete an assignment by their school teachers, using, among other things, the museum’s excellent smartphone app….

The tragic thing is that this — the truth — will never go viral. So, I wonder, what is more likely to bring about the death of civilization, children using smartphones to learn about art or the willful ignorance of adults who are too quick to make assumptions?” José Picardo, Medium

Read more

[somehedgehog]

Oyama Sutematsu 大山 捨松, born Yamakawa Sutematsu 山川 捨松 (1860-1919) - First Japanese Woman to Earn a College Degree (Vassar college) - Photos after her return in Japan - 1880s

Source pages.vassar.edu

[somehedgehog]

The Economist - May 10th - 16th, 2014

After SHIELD turns out to be mostly HYDRA, public opinion of global intelligence agencies is at an all time low. Cue the mud-slinging.

…

MediAvengers is an MCU media blog.  Magazine spreads and newspaper articles made by fans, for the fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Facebook  |  DeviantArt  |  Pinterest  |  Twitter  |  G+

All non-Marvel headlines are from the original real-world issue of the publication.